Sweet & Crunchy Peanuts

Did you know another name for a peanut is Goober? Isn’t that just a fun word to say?Why say you are munchin’ on peanuts when you can say you are chowin’ down on Goobers. In fact, I say peanut butter should be called Goober Butter. What do ya say, should we start a movement for Goober Butter? Ok, that might be far fetched but I still love the word goober. Anyhow, one of my favorite snacks has always been peanuts. I just love them. Did you know a peanut is actually not a nut? It’s in the bean family. And it is super high in antioxidents, even higher in capacity than grapes, spinach, broccoli and carrots. So see? They have health benefits too.

At any given baseball game, my Dad and I can plow through an entire bag of them (and then some). In fact, we eat so many, we create small mountains of peanut shells at our feet and folks go out of their way to avoid our part of the aisle so as not to have to step in them. You see, peanut shells can also be an effective tool in getting folks to not cut across in front of you during a baseball game. Peanuts…so many uses! And now I want to share with you one of my favorite snacks to make with peanuts and it is so doggone easy but so tasty. This is a great little treat to make for all your friends who might be hanging out at your house on game day.

Ingredients:

4 cups unsalted peanuts

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

You can also use lightly salted peanuts if you like that sweet and salty combination of flavors.

Directions:

In a large pan or a medium pot, over medium heat, combine the sugar and water.

Stir until sugar is dissolved.

Add in the peanuts and continue cooking.

Stir frequently. Mixture will get all nice and bubbly. This process will take about 10-12 minutes. You want the syrup mixture to dissolve until it is thick and gooey. At this point, you’ll want to start to preheat oven to 300F degrees.

Once the mixture becomes hard to stir and becomes a super thick, sticky mixture, it is ready for the next step.

Spread peanuts onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (this will make it easier to remove later). Spread them out and separate them as best as you can.

Bake in 300F degree oven for about 12-15 minutes, stirring around every 5 minutes. Until peanuts start to look white-ish and crystallized-looking.

Take out of oven and allow to cool before storing. These can be stored in an airtight container and will last for months (if you don’t eat them all before then.)

I like to put a bowl out on the table to munch on. They are like potato chips…you won’t be able to eat just one.

Haha, funny name, didn't know 'goober' .. wouldn't prefer calling it this though, especially the 'goober butter' sounds ewwww you know what i mean, hehe 😛And I wouldn't be able to stop munching on these too! In fact any sugar-glazed or salted nuts, for that matter 😀So easy to make at home, highly overpriced in stores!

I hope y'all like this recipe. The old school recipe actually calls for raw peanuts. But they can be pretty hard to find unless it's in the middle of peanut season and not everyone can find them around the country. But if you can, you should try it with the raw ones at least once. 🙂